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The most famous Lincoln Continental ever has been re-created to play a starring role for a film detailing events the day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

It happened because writer and director Peter Landesman looked for as much authenticity as possible making Parkland, which focuses on that horrible day.

He shot key scenes at Dallas' famed Dealey Plaza, where the president was shot Nov. 22, 1963. Hospital scenes were shot at a closed Austin hospital, which was a dead-ringer for Parkland Hospital in Dallas, where the president was taken.

But Landesman admits one of his crowning glories is the re-creation of the 1961 Lincoln Continental four-door convertible limousine in which Kennedy was riding when he was shot by a sniper's bullet.

"There's a whole movie to be made of us getting the presidential limousine," says Landesman. They couldn't use the original, which is exhibited at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich. So Landesman had to start from ground zero.

"We had that made from scratch. It was a kind of Lincoln that was never made before or since," says Landesman.

The results were effective, though Landesman admits the car is not ready for close scrutiny. "You can't look too close at it, but it did just fine."

And it certainly worked for Billy Bob Thornton, who plays a Secret Service agent who was part of the motorcade. Thornton said watching the car in action brought back memories of being a shocked 8-year-old following the assassination.

"It was pretty chilling seeing the car and the motorcade," says Thornton.

USA TODAY features a first look of the movie starring Thornton, Zac Efron and Paul Giamatti as Abraham Zapruder, who famously filmed Kennedy's killing. Parkland opens in the Oscar-friendly calendar spot of Sept. 20 and will be featured in both the Toronto and Venice international film festivals.